Los Angeles (CNN) -- A father and mother showed heroism when a gunman opened fired inside their California home before dawn Saturday, but two members of the family couldn't overcome their wounds, Inglewood police said.

The mother ran from the house carrying her youngest child, though she was shot in both legs, in an "extraordinary rescue attempt," police said. The 4-year-old boy, however, was shot in the head and later died in surgery. The mother was in critical but stable condition Saturday afternoon.

Inside the house, the father used his body as a shield in trying to protect the other three children.
Despite the father's efforts, the gunfire wounded two of his children: a 6-year-old boy in the pelvis and a 7-year-old girl in the chest. Both were in critical but stable condition, police said. The father later died in surgery of multiple gunshot wounds.

The oldest of four children, an 8-year-old boy, was the sole family member who wasn't injured, police said.